Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel so don't sue me. Thanks. :-)
A/N: Sorry for the late update, but I finished this part of the story, and I'm now working on Part 2 of the Trilogy. Thanks for sticking with me, everyone, and the last few chapters will be updated this week.
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO: Marcus Sylenus, Alexa, Kay, Dark Rose, Tina, Grace, x5 416, Jess, Stargate fan, 452max and Calli! You'll have to forgive for being so slack with updating, but I'm going to give you all extra chapters this week to make up for it!
Ex Multus Familia
Chapter 24
It was raining in Seattle, and personally, Robin had never been happier to see a grey, cloudy sky with buckets pouring from it. There had been no time to call anyone between running around through European and American airports, booking flights under stolen foreign credit cards and flying, so by the time they got to the Portland airport there had been no transportation waiting to take them back to Seattle and Terminal City.
Syl had put her eclectic skills to use, and they drove a hot-wired suburban back to the city. The sector passes that they had used before got them through the gates, and Logan had had the foresight to get them an extra one for Marie.
In the back seat of the suburban, Taylor was secure and asleep in her carrier, so Robin had a few moments off from being a mom and a super-soldier. She leaned against the door, exhausted. She had used up the last of her energy taking out the determined tail that had followed them from South Africa. He had been discreet until he tried to attack them in an airport in Northern France. After he had revealed himself, he had been quickly dispatched by the bruised, tired and very pissed X5s; obviously he should have brought some back-up.
She blinked as Marie leaned over and patted her knee. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"
"Mhmm," she said, nodding obligingly. She was just mindlessly worn out and in a bit of pain. She had been through worse. Compared to that Alaskan job involving the rescue of the British Prime Minister a couple years back, she was wonderful at the moment.
Seth turned around from the front passenger seat to give her a worried glance. She smiled at him and looked out the window, at the city. He was still worried about her, which was cute and made her feel warmer.
Since the rain was keeping any anti-transgenic protestors indoors, they drove the suburban to the back gate instead of leaving it parked a few streets over and walking to T.C.
Krit, who was driving, cleared his throat. "Oh, not good."
Robin and Syl lifted their heads and glanced at each other across Marie.
"What's wrong?" Syl asked, leaning forward so that she was between the two front seats. Robin sat up and peered around Seth's seat. In front of the gate, there was a makeshift guardhouse, just a singlewide white trailer, and a guard standing outside of it, standing at attention.
"Looks like the sector police have decided to set up shop outside of Terminal City," Krit said. He slowed the car down and approached the gate at a crawl. He shot a look at Seth. "Do you think Max would let them do that?"
"She mentioned something about trying to work with the government when I was talking with her the other day," Seth said, "It could be a cooperative effort."
Krit stopped the car. They had attracted the attention of some of the people in the guardhouse. Already, two people, the man on guard and another soldier, this one a woman, were walking cautiously toward the car. They were both carrying semi-automatics in their hands. From the way they were walking, Robin could tell they were not from Manticore; they were not graceful enough.
"I think we should go," Syl said. She reached forward and squeezed Krit's shoulder. "Let's go. We can call Max from a pay phone or something and make sure we know what's going on."
Robin sighed. All she wanted to do was go home. "Can't we at least see what they want first?"
"You wanna get shot again?" Syl asked, turning to Robin with an incredulous look on her face. "Or are you still on a high?"
"No, but I don't want to jump to conclusions either," Robin said. "I mean, we haven't heard anything in the news about the government taking control of Terminal City."
"Maybe they're keeping it under wraps," Syl proposed.
"Well, we need to make a decision soon," Krit said, tightening his grip on the steering wheel, "'Cause those guys aren't beating a retreat any time soon."
"Seth…" Robin said. She looked over at him. He was rubbing the scruff on his chin and staring at the two guards.
"I'm not sure, but I think we should play it safe and fall back," he said, "I'd rather not take our chances with these guys."
Robin's heart fell as Krit put the car in reverse. So much for slipping into her nice, warm bed in her own apartment any time soon.
When they started to drive backwards in reverse, the guards ran forward and lowered their guns at the car while more guards poured out of the guardhouse.
"Get out of the car!" one of them shouted over the rain. The woman pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession and suddenly the suburban was minus two wheels.
"Shit!" Krit snapped as he slammed on breaks and the tires squealed. The suburban came to a jolting stop, and in the back, Taylor whimpered as she was woken up.
The guards were immediately on both sides of the car, demanding that the transgenics get out and put their hands above their heads. Robin almost turned around to soothe Taylor, but then she thought that the guards might think she was reaching for a weapon.
"Everyone, stay calm," Seth said, his voice even, "Just do what they say for now."
They got out of the car with their hands up, as if they were criminals instead of soldiers who had successfully completed their mission. Three of the guards lowered their gun on them while two others started patting them down. Meanwhile, they tried to claim their innocence, saying they were just lost, they hadn't been to this part of town, they were sorry. No one answered them. Robin was put off by the annoyingly quiet and efficient guards. They weren't like the belligerent sector police and their weapons looked a lot newer.
While they tried to explain themselves, one of the male guards walked up to Robin and attempted to pull her hair to the side so he could get a good look at her neck. Startled, Robin blocked his hand and then punched him, her fist connecting with his nose. There was a satisfying crunch. He wheeled backward as blood dripped down his face.
"Damn it, you bitch!" he shouted, reaching for the gun that he had handed to one of the other guards. A female guard, the one that had been the first out of the guardhouse, put her hand on his arm. She was staring at them as if trying to remember something important.
"No, wait, Johnson. I think this is one of the groups that we were told to look out for," said the woman. It seemed like she was the one in charge around here. She narrowed her eyes at them. "State your names and designations."
"Really? We really have to go through that?" Syl said, hatred in her voice.
"You want to get shot again?" Robin asked, mimicking Syl's earlier statement. She was feeling particularly snappy at the moment: her shoulder was aching, there were guns pointed at her chest, there were guns pointed at the man who was basically her lover, two of her friends and her mission objective, her baby was crying, and she wasn't being allowed to go home. She was irritated, and she wasn't going to be nice about it.
Robin's irritation startled them enough that they all quickly reported their numbers. Robin usually didn't get moody like this, but she hadn't really fully explained her bodyguard syndrome. It usually came with a sort of crash after the high. She usually needed sleep for proper recuperation then, but she hadn't gotten much while they were on the run.
"Yes, they're the ones," one of the soldiers said, listening to his walkie-talkie. After the confirmation, there was a release of tension, and the soldiers quickly ushered the transgenics through the gates. Robin glanced at Seth; it was nice how apologetic these soldiers were for their earlier treatment of the group.
Once they were through, Seth immediately called up Logan.
"What's up with the gate security?" Seth asked over the cell phone he had been given as they started walking toward the center of T.C. Unfortunately, their two tires being shot flat meant they had to leave the vehicle outside. Which probably meant they weren't going to get it back.
"Wait, you guys are back already?" Logan asked eagerly. The excitement in his voice was pitifully obvious.
"Yeah, sorry, we would've warned you if we'd known you were preparing such a welcoming homecoming." Even Seth was a little irritated. "Those men outside were very gun-happy."
"I told those guards… they're not exactly happy about their job, surprise surprise. It's this whole government thing Max worked out….come by headquarters and I'll fill you in. I'll call Max….should I call Max?" Logan's voice was hesitant.
"Definitely call Max," Seth said. At least that someone would be very happy in a few minutes.
-------------------------------------
Marie looked around with interest as they walked through Terminal City. They were careful to keep to the cleaner streets since Terminal City hadn't exactly been detoxified yet. Letting the area stay a biohazard was sort of a buffer between them and the humans who wanted to exterminate them.
"I find it fascinating that you have set up your own civilization," she said. "John and I always wondered what you would do if you were allowed out of Manticore, if you'd be able to resist your killing nature or not. I must say, I'm rather impressed. I was always more pessimistic, but John….he really does know you best. He predicted something like this. He said that you all had a very good survival instinct and very strong bonds of loyalty. And that those key things would lead to places like this." She looked at them as if wanting verification of her assessment.
"I guess," Krit said uneasily. "We don't really theorize much about why we do what we do."
"Hmm, yes, I know. John and Manticore used to fight about that. John wanted more philosophical instincts in you so that you could come up with creative solutions and think for yourselves." Marie continued on, unaware that they didn't really like hearing about how they were 'created'. "And Manticore, well, that's not what you want in soldiers. Still, he always liked you X5s because he got away with a lot more creativity with you since you were supposed to be leaders."
"Are you guys proud of that?" Syl asked in disbelief. "Of helping to bring about people who will never fit into this world? Who will always have problems just because of who they are?"
Marie laughed. "Dear Syl, don't you know that that's how everyone feels? No one feels like they completely fit in. They always think that who they are creates problems for them, that if they just could be someone else, everything will be better." Marie gave Syl regretful pat on the shoulder. "It's never like that, not really."
Robin moved over closer to Seth, suddenly drained of all her irritation and anger with the guards. She didn't like all this talk about their creation and what their purpose in life was. No matter what Marie said to persuade herself that her and Sandeman's experiments were ok, Robin knew that what they had done was wrong. Maybe no one felt like they fit in, but at least they could pretend like they fit in. Transgenics couldn't, especially if they were like Joshua or Mole. But even the X-series had trouble—usually something about them and their strange fighting capabilities gave them away eventually. And there were always people hunting them, just because of what they were. That happened to humans sometimes too, but not all across the board. Marie may have been hunted and captured by the South Africans, but that had happened because she had chosen to be Sandeman's wife and stick with him in his experiments. Not because she was Marie.
Seth looked at Robin and slipped his hand around hers, as if he understood the comfort she needed. Robin smiled up at him and then pulled Taylor up to kiss her forehead. At least her life was relatively happy right now. Robin didn't think Marie would be so cheerful when she found out her husband was no longer alive.
"This is headquarters," Krit announced for Marie's sake when they got to the building. "It's kind of plain, but we don't care. Pretty much everything we need is on the inside."
"Of course," Mari said, moving faster. She obviously thought she was going to get to see her husband soon….and none of them wanted to tell her she wasn't going to get to. But at least Marie wasn't bringing it up.
"I can't wait to meet Max," Marie chattered as they walked into the building. "John spoke about her so much, she was his pride and joy, his masterpiece, if you permit me to say…"
"No, I don't," Syl muttered. But Marie didn't hear her because she was too busy looking around HQ.
"Seth!" One person called out. "Good to see you back again!"
"Hey Syl, Krit, up for some pool tonight?"
"Hey guys, Logan's been itching to see you…"
They said hi to everyone, and Krit smiled happily as he caught sight of the wall of computers at the far end of the main room. That wasn't even the best technology they had in HQ, but it made him so happy. Being home was absolutely awesome.
Syl grinned as she caught sight of his wandering eyes. "Me or the computers tonight?" she asked him, teasingly.
"Hmmm, decisions, decisions…" he chuckled as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm kidding. But…computers tomorrow?"
Syl shook her head. "Wouldn't even try keeping you away longer than that."
"Hey guys!" The group was almost all the way across the room when Max popped in from one of the back doors with Joshua behind her. She almost blurred across the distance between them she moved so fast.
"Marie?" she asked, staring with bright eyes at the woman.
Marie smiled and held out a hand. "You must be Max," she said warmly.
Max was hesitant, but she took the older woman's hand, almost as if she touched Marie, the woman would pop like a soap bubble. "Yeah, um, I am."
"It's so wonderful to finally meet you, dear," she said. She reached up and touched one of Max's curls; Robin had noticed when Max had appeared that she had cut her hair while they were gone. Now it lay in dark, loose curls around her shoulders, making Max look softer than she had with long, straight hair. Max stood perfectly still as Marie caressed her hair like a mother would. "So beautiful. Genetically perfect in every way."
"Yeah, Max is the transgenic version of Mary Poppins," said Krit. The joke was lost on the Manticore alums who didn't have a thing for old movies, but he got a couple chuckles and that was all he really needed.
Max stepped back and brushed the curl behind her shoulder. "Um, welcome to Terminal City."
"Thank you," Marie said in return, "It's been most eventful, getting here. I don't believe I've seen that much action since watching the last James Bond with that nice Daniel Craig fellow." She tittered, a whispery laugh that sounded almost like a giggle.
Max was about to reply when Joshua swooped in and caught Marie in a giant dog-man hug. "Mother! So sorry for Father, so sorry." He gave a high-pitched whine and hugged her tighter.
Marie patted Joshua on the back but looked past him at Max, her eyes questioning. "Oh, Joshua? Joshua, darling, John always spoke so highly of you…don't cry, dear."
Max stared at Seth, and he shook his head. No, they hadn't told Marie. Oh. Oh no.
"But Father!" Joshua said, leaning back from Marie for a moment. "Father…" New tears for an old hurt dripped down his cheeks.
Marie stepped away from Joshua, her hands raised, confusion and cold realization on her face. "What about John?" She looked around, searching desperately among the transgenic faces for her husband's familiar face. "Where is he?"
"If she has a psychotic break, it's so not my fault," Syl hissed at Krit at a decibel Marie could not hear. Krit flashed her a disapproving look, but she ignored him.
"Marie, we were going to tell you, but there wasn't any time," Robin said carefully, keeping her voice even. She had been in these precarious situations before with other people she had guarded. One person survives, the other doesn't. The survivor never took it well.
"Tell me what?" Marie's hands trembled as she lifted them to her mouth. She stared at Robin, then Seth before looking back at Joshua and Max. "Tell me what?!"
"Marie…Sandeman, um, John…" Max started, but she couldn't finish, not with Marie staring at her like that.
Marie shook her head, slowly at first and then faster. "No. No!" She stepped back further, as if she was going to bolt. Robin walked over to her and touched her on the shoulder, but Marie shrugged her off and held up her hands again as if she couldn't handle the subject.
"My John…" she whispered. She was visibly shaking. "How...when…I don't…"
Max held both of Marie's hands in her own, trying to convey her sympathy. "We never got to see him, Marie. He was assassinated right after he got to Seattle. I'm so sorry."
Marie moaned, and Joshua cut through Max to wrap his arms around Marie. "I take Mother to my place," he told Max firmly. He stroked Marie's hair gently. "I make Mother better."
Max seemed uncertain…she obviously wanted to talk to Marie. But unfortunately, Marie was definitely not in a condition right now that was conducive to talking. Her eyes were glazed and distant, and she wasn't paying attention to anything going on around her.
"It's probably best for her right now," Robin suggested to Max. "We've still got the notes and stuff… we can start with those, Max, while we wait for Marie to recover."
"You're right…of course. I…Joshua, yes, please…let us know if she needs anything, ok?"
Joshua nodded. "I take care of Mother." He led her off, away from the group.
Seth shifted uncomfortably and looked at Max. "I guess we should have told her sooner, but we were afraid she'd go into a state like that while we were on the run. And then we were hoping you'd get a chance to talk to her before…" He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at Joshua and Marie, who were just going out the door. "Well, we just didn't seem to have much choice."
"No, it's ok," Max said, wrapping her arms around herself for a moment. "I understand. Come on, we'll take those papers to Logan. He's been cooped up in the office all day guiding one of our teams through a meeting with the government." She started leading them back toward Logan's office.
Syl looked at her curiously. "Meeting with the government?" She frowned. "Since when do we meet with the government?"
"Does that have something to do with those retarded guards at the gate?" Krit asked. He was still slightly annoyed at having to leave the car out there.
"Yes, it does…sorry about that," Max said, "We're gonna have to have a talk with them about just how much power those thugs have."
"Why do we have thugs anyway?" Seth asked. "Aren't we pretty good at guarding our border?"
Max sighed. "Well, we are, but this does lighten the load a bit… they take care of the normal people so that we only have to watch out for the truly dangerous guys, and it makes getting in and out easier. We kind of had to accept them, too, because the government thought that offering them was a gesture of good faith." She smirked at Seth. "We didn't want to hurt their feelings."
"I'm still not understanding…" Robin said slowly.
Max turned to look at her as she pushed the door to Logan's office open. "It's kind of a long story..."
"Hey guys!" Logan said promptly, quickly standing up from behind his desk. His eyes searched their group eagerly, and then the light dimmed a little in them. "Sandeman's wife?"
"Erm…" Seth glanced at Max, who had the grace to blush.
"My fault, Logan. I brought Joshua with me...and, well, apparently she hadn't heard the bad news yet."
"Oh. I see." Logan sat back down and shook his head. "I guess it may be a while before she wants to talk to us then."
"We still brought these," Seth quickly offered, setting his knapsack down on Logan's desk. He didn't notice Logan's grimace as the pack upset Logan's neatly ordered pile of papers. "These are the notes that Marie said would be important."
"Oooh, great," Logan said, immediately forgetting about the piles as he reached for the sack. He was like a kid getting a Christmas present. He immediately started glancing through the papers and murmuring to himself, barely noticing when Max grabbed the bottom half of the stack and started looking through them too.
"Well, um, we'll just leave now," Syl suggested, giving the rest of them a conspiratorial wink. Somehow, the simple act of seeing these two eagerly going through the papers was like watching a couple make out. Awkward.
"Um, sure, ok," Max said, glancing up at them briefly. "See you guys later."
"Will do," Robin replied, feeling relieved. Now she could finally head to her apartment.
Or she would have if she hadn't been physically attacked by Gem. The red-headed X5 came out of nowhere, brandishing a ladle and wearing a camouflage-pattern apron. The scowl on her face made Robin shrink back into Seth and clutch Taylor closer to her chest.
"Where are Alec and Sidda?!" Gem demanded, raising the ladle as if she was going to hit them with it.
Seth cocked an eyebrow and put his hands on Robin's shoulders. "In Italy…"
"They didn't come back with you?" Gem snapped. She grabbed the ladle with both hands and twisted it, bending the metal without realizing it. "They're avoiding me, I know they are. Dalton's convinced them to stay in Italy, just so he doesn't have to come home and face me."
Robin gave Gem a tentative smile. "I'm certain they're taking good care of Dalton, Gem." While they had been in South Africa, the other teams had called in a few times, and Sidda had told Robin about Dalton's tag-along adventure.
Gem stared at Robin. "Maybe Sidda is, but Alec's there to."
"Dalton's so going to die," Syl said. Gem shot her such an evil look that Syl wrapped Krit's arm in hers and made a beeline for the door. "See you guys later!" she called back, avoiding Robin's gaze.
Sighing, Gem turned around and headed back toward the kitchen, her shoulders lowered. Seth and Robin exchanged looks before following her.
"I'm certain they'll come home soon," Robin reassured her.
Seth nodded. "He'll be fine, Gem. You know Syl was only teasing. She was built with a vicious streak."
"I know, I know," Gem said, "But that doesn't make me worry about him any less. He's just so…eager." She glanced up at Seth. "You know how he is."
"I do, but I also know he's a resourceful, smart kid," Seth said. "He'll come through this with a lot more experience. He's got good teachers, even if they are a little…"
"Unorthodox," Robin put in, "But they'd never let anything happen to him if they can help it."
"I just wish he'd call more," Gem said, "I mean, how hard is it to pick up a phone and dial a number?"
"He's probably afraid you'll yell at him," Seth said. When Gem glared at him, he smiled back at her. "You can be sort of scary when you're mad."
Gem huffed. "It keeps people in line, soldier." She pushed her short, red hair back behind her ears with her free hand. "Come on, let's get you guys something to eat. I know you're probably about to starve." They reached the mess hall and walked through the doors. A few people called out to them, but they passed through the crowd without having to stop.
It seemed that the rations weren't bad this week. There was lasagna, a few choices of canned vegetables and a barrel of apples. They sat down at a table to eat, and Gem sat with them.
"Where's Crystal?" Robin asked. Taylor was in Seth's lap, being fed from a bottle that Gem had gotten from the constant supply.
Gem smiled. "One of the X6s is babysitting. Max has actually set up a pretty good system with that. The X6 girls babysit while the X5 women do work, and that teaches the X6s that they should always get some kind of contraceptive while they're in heat." She laughed a little and sat back in her chair. "A few hours of taking care of a baby every other day is turning out to be a good deterrent for wild, unprotected sex."
"That's good," Seth said, shaking his head, "I guess we've found something better than regular contraceptives?"
Gem nodded. "Rhiannon and Trey got back last week with their scientist. He knew a few codes for some suppressant drug, so we've been working with that. Adenine's been in the lab since…I don't know, Wednesday? Locked herself in there, keeping herself hostage with the scientist. Ted Something-or-other. Pretty cute, actually, for an Ordinary."
Robin smirked. Maybe Adenine had a crush on the scientist. It'd be twisted, but she could see it happening. Weird relationships seemed to be a staple among transgenics.
"So, Gem, what's going on with the government?" Seth asked. Like all X5 guys, he didn't like to avoid a question.
"Oh, so you noticed them?"
"Sort of hard not to when they're pointing guns in your face," Robin grumbled.
Gem made a face. "Yeah, they're a little overzealous and paranoid. They get it from both sides, since they're sort of freaked out by us, but they're trying to protect us from the humans. Max tried to tell the suits that we could handle the gates on their own, but this is a goodwill gesture that we can't refuse."
"Good way to keep track on us too," Seth said, his eyes dark.
Gem smiled at him. "Don't get too upset. We still know more ways to get out of here than a tank has treads. Besides, I think they're starting to warm up to us."
"Did you send them special brownies?" Robin asked, amused.
Gem wrinkled her nose and put her hands on the table. "No, I didn't drug them. They're just talking to us now, about how we can manage the city, maybe work for them in exchange for this part of Seattle and a farm base out in the country. Small things but things that will make life easier for us. It's basically an exchange. Labor for the chance to live."
"Still the perfect little soldiers," Robin said, rolling her eyes.
"Has there been any talk about a registry?" Set asked, "It seems like that would be the best way to keep up with us."
Gem nodded. "Yeah, the government thinks we should have our own sector passes with our barcodes on them. They want to keep track of us, and let the public know that they know where we're at at all times."
"But that limits out freedom," Robin protested. She frowned and looked down at Taylor. She didn't want her child to have to join some registry system. Seth reached over and rubbed her arm gently.
"Small steps, Robin," he said, his voice soothing, "If we can at least get past this phase where everyone wants to kill us, I think we can eventually get to where we have almost the same freedom as everyone else."
"Still, it isn't fair to us," Robin said. Her eyes narrowed. "They created us, made us work for them and now they don't want to treat us like human beings?"
"We're not exactly human beings," Gem said, shrugging. "I guess they just don't think they owe us anything."
"Well, they do," Robin said. Heat flooded her chest at the thought of having to submit to the government again. She thought she had been done with that back when Manticore was destroyed.
Seth's hand caught hers. He rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand, soothing her. She sighed. At least some things were better.
Gem smirked at her; she had obviously noticed Seth's gesture. Robin lowered her eyes and blushed. Well, now that they were back, it seemed like they were going to have to come clean about their relationship. Maybe they wouldn't be excruciatingly teased by everyone…
"Hey, what about that farm base you mentioned?" Seth asked, lifting his head. "What's that about?"
A true smile lightened Gem's face. "That's actually one of the best parts of this whole deal. In exchange for the registry, they've promised to give us our own farm out in the country. There won't be any surveillance on it, and if there is, we'll block it, and they're agreed not to disclose the location to the public. Max and Logan visited the property and they said it's really secluded."
"Sounds too good to be true," Robin said, suspicious of the gift.
"Well, it isn't perfect," Gem said, "There will be a couple farm houses and at least a hundred acres. It was abandoned during the Pulse, so no one has used it in a while. It'll need a lot of work, but everyone's been anxious to get out of the city and do something. We'll be able to grow some of our own supply and maybe eventually show people that we're not exactly evil Frankenstein types."
"We're sort of anti-Frankensteins, since our parts were put together before birth, not after death," Seth said. When Robin and Gem stared at him, he shrugged. "What? I read, on occasion."
Robin laughed and leaned her head against her shoulder. No, not everything was bad.
-----------------------------------
"Uncle Bobby is being way too compliant," Alec muttered, glancing over his shoulder. The scientist was sitting in the waiting area of gate A6 with Dalton watching him. Sidda and Alec had moved away so that they could discuss their plans without being overheard. "I just have trouble believing someone from Manticore was this easy to capture."
Sidda shrugged. "Well, he is a scientist, not a soldier. They're a little bit of a different breed."
"Well that's for sure." Alec frowned as he looked at Hayden. "Do you think we'll get that chubby when we're older?"
"Alec." Sidda rolled her eyes. "I seriously doubt it since we're supposed to spend all our lives as soldiers." She grinned playfully at him. "Of course, if you keep sitting around, watching TV and pigging out…"
Alec pulled her close and twirled one piece of her hair around his finger. "Hey, that only happens after a hard day's…or, well, night's work."
Sidda tugged the piece of hair back and smirked at him. "Mhmmm."
Alec frowned at her, and then looked up as the gate announced pre-boarding for their flight. "Well," he said, looking around, 'I guess we're going to get out of here ok after all."
Sidda nodded. "He probably just thought he was safer than he really was."
Suddenly, a soft beeping sound started. Both Sidda and Alec stiffened and looked at Hayden. He was busy with his watch, trying to turn the beeping off. Dalton was also staring at him curiously.
"He's sweating," Sidda observed calmly.
"Yeah, I know. He wasn't doing that before." Sidda and Alec moved toward Hayden, then stopped in front of him.
"Hey Uncle Bobby, let me help you with that watch," Alec said.
"Um, no, that's ok. I got it."
Sidda sat down next to Hayden. "No, I really don't think you do. " She started unstrapping the watch while Dalton held on to the man's arms to keep him from struggling. "I had better take a look at it."
Hayden paled as he watched Sidda examine his watch. "It's…it's new, I like to have alarms, I forgot…"
"You forgot to mute it," Sidda said flatly. She looked up at Alec. "It's a tracker."
"Shit." Alec took it and smashed it against the wall, then looked back down at Hayden. His eyes were cold and hard, and his jaw was set as if he was clenching his teeth. Wow, Sidda had rarely seen him looking like this…she had to admit, she found it kind of hot.
Alec leaned down close to Hayden. "I swear, if they find us…you'll pay for it."
"Alec," Sidda said quietly. Theatrics could come later, when they were safe.
Alec took a deep breath. "How long?" he asked Hayden, standing up again. At Hayden's confused look he added. "How long until they get here?"
Hayden looked absolutely terrified, which, he should be, considering that he had just got on the wrong side of a bunch of super-soldier transgenics. "Umm...uh…about five minutes," he hazarded.
Alec tensed and looked at Sidda. "We got to get on that plane now, before they show up."
Sidda nodded and gestured for Dalton to grab his bag. "Maybe if we press to the front of the line…" She looked back over her shoulder, checking to see if anyone was coming. No one yet. At least Sidda and Alec hadn't gotten the tickets that went straight to Portland. Instead they'd gone for Phoenix, just to give themselves a little distance from their actual location. If Hayden's lab knew anything about who might be out to get him, maybe they would check some of the flights going for more northern locations first.
Dalton went ahead of them and grabbed a place at the front of the line. When they joined him, they turned their backs to block Hayden from the view of anyone else in the airport while Dalton continued to keep a lookout.
"I can't believe you have a tracker," Alec said, restlessly shifting from side to side. "Do you like being so tied to your work?"
"It was for my protection," Hayden said, "It's only on when I turn it on."
"Sure it is," Sidda laughed, "Believe me, Hayden, if they have such an easy way to spy on you, they'll use it."
Alec grimaced. "You worked for Manticore, you should know that."
Hayden looked slightly uncomfortable. "I told you…"
"Yeah, yeah, you prefer to pretend nothing bad is happening." Alec shook his head. "What an idiot."
"Hey guys." Dalton nodded his head in the direction of A3. "There are some soldier types checking out the flight to Minnesota."
"Hayden…" Alec looked at the scientist, and guy looked away, refusing to meet Alec's gaze.
"Is there any way you can call them off?" he asked.
"Oh, well, if you'd wanted me to do that you should have mentioned it before you smashed my watch against the wall."
Sidda caught Alec's arm as he was about to cuff Hayden in the side of the head.
"Don't attract attention," she said quietly. Hayden was being cleverer than they had given him credit for. He'd figured out that Alec had a bit of a temper about being forced into a tight spot, and he was trying to use it to his advantage.
"I know, I know." Alec was still moving restlessly; he really wanted to get out of their cooped-up situation. "Hayden, you give a word of warning to them, I swear I'll make sure that you go down before I do."
Hayden rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
"Where are they now, Dalton?"
"A5. I think they're just going systematically through the airport."
'Wonderful." Sidda stood on her tiptoes to see where they were in the boarding process. The last of the families was getting on… maybe, just maybe they would make it without a confrontation. They really didn't want that.
"What type of soldiers do they look like?" Alec asked. "Human?"
"I don't think so," Dalton said slowly. "Or if they are…well, they're really buff. And there's something kind of mechanical about the way they move."
Alec and Sidda exchange glances; this was not sounding good. They both risked a glance over their shoulder, and sure enough, Dalton was right.
"Damn it," Alec said. "I think those are Reds. I hate the way they hire them out all over the place."
"Reds?" Dalton asked.
"Let's just say it's tough even for a Manticore soldier to beat them when they're in their prime," Sidda said. She glanced at Hayden. "You must be working for a pretty important company to have guards like those."
"Well, practically anywhere in Europe will pay better than a job in the US."
Frustrated, Alec rubbed at his face and then looked around. Okay, what did they have to work with here? The plane they were catching was boarding passengers A 1-30 right now. Their tickets were B 31-60. The Reds…Hell, the Reds were getting closer by the minute, and they didn't have time to think about it anymore. Their time was running out.
"Dalton, take him and get on the plane," Alec said. He grabbed Hayden's arm and hissed into his ear as he shoved him toward Dalton. "Make a noise, and I'll kill you right here."
Hayden only smiled at him as Dalton caught him. Alec felt like smacking that smirk off of the man's face, but he felt Sidda touch him on the arm, and the rage died down.
"Alec, they're not boarding us yet, it'll look suspicious if they go now," she cautioned.
"What else are we supposed to do?" Alec asked, "We can't just stand here, and if we try taking on the Reds, we'll lose."
"Well, then, he needs a reason for going on the plane…" Sidda looked at Alec for a moment and then without shifting her body too much, she shot out her fist and caught Hayden in the stomach. He would have doubled over if Dalton hadn't been holding him up. He grabbed at his stomach and immediately faded into a pale green-white color.
Sidda patted Hayden on the shoulder and then nodded to Dalton. "It looks like Uncle Bobby has a stomachache. He should probably go ahead and get on the plane. It'll calm his nerves."
"Got it," Dalton said, jerking his head in an affirmative bob.
"Don't hurry, don't call attention," Sidda hissed after him as he and Hayden started shuffling towards the gate. "If we don't catch this flight, stay in Phoenix. We'll meet you there."
"What are you doing, they're going to notice him," Alec said. Sidda was ignoring him; instead, she was looking around, scanning the crowd for who knows what. He grabbed her wrist, but she turned the move on him, whipping her hand around to hold his arm.
"Alec. I told you what I did back in Manticore. I'm wired to get out of situations where there is no way out," she said, shaking her head. "Just trust me, okay? I don't think I have time to explain everything."
Alec stared at her, hazel on hazel. Finally, he let go of her wrist, still frowning. He wasn't used to relying on other people, but she seemed more level-headed in this situation than he was, and if getting out of tight spots was her specialty… He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "All right. Fine."
Sidda kissed him quickly and then led him toward a middle-aged man who waiting in the intersection of various terminals. He was standing alone, holding the handle of his rolling bag and looking impatient. Sidda walked up to him and took him by the arm.
"Hello, sir," she said, her face a serious mask. "Please come with us. You've been screened as a possible risk. Nothing serious, just a search, and you're free to go."
He tried to yank away from her iron grip, his eyes wide. "I haven't done anything."
"It's a simple search, sir, but you'll have to stay calm," Sidda said. She pulled him gently away from the rest of the crowd while he tried to stand his ground. Alec could feel adrenaline surging through his veins as he closed in on the man's other side.
"You're not airport security," he said, scowling at them and trying to get away, "Release me."
"We're plainclothes homeland security," Sidda replied. "Don't struggle." She and Alec were now pulling him away, making quite the scene. Just like Sidda had hoped, this guy was putting up a fight. It had caught the Reds attention, and they were heading their way.
"Hurrying up would be a good idea," Alec growled, not knowing whether he was talking to Sidda or the man that he now realized looked marginally like Hayden.
"I think you're right," Sidda said. She gave the guy a vicious smile. "Sorry, sir, but this is going to hurt."
The man did a double-take at the look on the X5's faces, his own growing pale with worry. Sidda and Alec took that moment to grab his arms and dash forward through the crowd, practically dragging him behind them as they started to blur. He let out a shout, calling even more attention to their exit. The Reds thundered behind them, muscle-bound legs pumping.
Speed was on the X5s' side, but they were carrying the man between them and now he was struggling hard. Alec reached over and knocked the back of his hand against the guy's head. He slumped forward, dead weight between them now.
Sidda pulled the man to the right, and Alec turned, following her lead and hoping he had made a good decision to trust her. They were far away from A6 now, moving through the C terminals, but the Reds were gaining on them. Luckily, they were slowed down by airport traffic.
Sidda took a sharp left, a right and then they were at the door of a utility room. Without really thinking about it, Alec slammed his foot into the door, and it burst open, the metal locks completely sheered. Sidda tossed him an impressed look before she entered, pulling the man with her.
"All right, there's a back exit, can you go open it?" Sidda asked as she sat the unconscious man down. He groaned and lifted his hands to his head, so Sidda hit him again while Alec hurried to the back of the room. Sure enough, there was a slim door. He yanked on the door, breaking the lock, and opened it. It led to a small service hallway. One eyebrow raised, he turned back to look at Sidda.
"How did you know this was here?"
She gave a dry half-smile. "Training for Italy was…very intensive and very extensive."
Alec smirked. "Understood."
"We should be able to drop him and get back to our terminal right before the plane leaves if we follow the right back passage ways. We'll just tell them we were delayed." Pushing her hair back from her face, she dashed over to him. "Let's go." She darted out the door. "Come on, Alec!"
Alec slammed the door behind him and smirked. Commanding women were sort of fun.
-----------------------------
"I almost feel sorry for that old guy," Sidda said as they slowed down at one of the doors in the service tunnel. To her approximation, this was probably close A6.
"Why?" Alec asked, "'Cause you conked him out after he'd already been hit once?" He grinned as she rolled her eyes at him. "Well, you did…"
"No, dork, that was necessary. He just has to meet up with those Reds, and I don't know how long it'll take before they let him go. He'll probably miss his flight."
"Yeah, meeting up with Reds does suck…especially when they're not happy with you."
They stepped back into the Terminal, glancing around to see if any of the Reds had lingered there. Nope. Luckily the Reds weren't always the most brilliant. As soon as they were sure they'd found their target, they'd taken off.
"Do you think Dalton is okay?" Sidda asked quietly as they quickly moved through the crowd toward their gate. "If any Reds made it aboard…"
"I'm sure we distracted them in time," Alec said, "They weren't looking for a kid and his grandpa."
"True." Sidda wanted to believe he was right. Well, the sooner they got on the plane the sooner they would find out. "Hey, they're boarding the C's, we better hurry," she said, pushing through the crowds a bit more.
"No." Alec grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his side. "We don't want to hurry."
Sidda nodded. Anxiety for Dalton was keeping her tense, and she couldn't help looking around, checking for Reds. None nearby yet. But it wouldn't take long for them to find the old man and then discover that he wasn't Hayden.
Alec slipped his hand in hers and squeezed it. "Come on, schnookims, let's play happy couple."
"Schnookims?" Sidda laughed. "Are you trying to make me relax or did you just want an excuse to feel me up?" she asked as Alec's thumb made circles on the outside of her hand.
"Both?"
Sidda shook her head, but what he was doing actually helped a bit. They both looked happy and relaxed by the time they got to the gate.
"Sorry, we had to go to the bathroom." Sidda smiled apologetically as she handed the tickets over to the harassed looking gate attendant. She smirked at Alec. "He gets nervous before flying, and well, you know…"
"Love, don't tell the nice man all the boring details about us that he doesn't want to know," Alec said through gritted teeth. His grip on her hand would have broken a normal person's bones.
The attendant gave them an awkward smile. "Um, no, it's ok. Go ahead." They passed her and went into the tunnel-like contraption that led to the plane. Sidda grinned up at Alec.
"But sweetie-kins, that attendant was so nice, I'm sure she didn't mind hearing about your little issue…" Sidda burst into laughter at the strained look on Alec's face.
"It's a good thing you're not with someone who actually has a bathroom problem. I would feel very sorry for them."
"If you actually had a bathroom problem…I think I would die laughing." She leaned against Alec. "There you go, you could make me die happy."
"That's the goal." Alec shook his head and smiled down at Sidda. He liked the feel of her hand in his, of her arm pressed against his. Terminal City was going to seem so much better when he got back…
They quickly found their seats, which luckily meant moving past Dalton and Hayden and going toward the back of the plane. A quick whispered conversation with Dalton established that no Reds had followed them on. As long as they took off before the Reds figured out what gate they had come from, they were in the clear. Well, everyone except Hayden. The fact that Hayden was looking extremely pissed off did more than anything else to reassure Sidda. She was pretty sure now that Hayden didn't have anything else up his sleeve.
"Man, that guy is annoying," Alec said as they took their seats. "I hope I don't have to see him much back in Terminal City.
"No, that will probably be mostly Max's job," Sidda said. Her hands stilled as she remembered why they had come to fetch Hayden in the first place. Max…the girl that Alec was supposedly supposed to be with back at Manticore. Sidda looked out the window.
She and Alec had talked about it a bit, how it was weird that a lot of the people who had been paired off by Manticore had ended up together. Like Robin and Seth, from what Robin had told her over the phone. But what did that mean for Max and Alec? Why weren't they together or into each other? If Max actually wasn't meant to be Alec's breeding partner, like Alec had been told, then who was? What if some other girl showed up and…
Stop, she told herself firmly. It didn't matter right now. If that was the case, then she'd enjoy being with Alec until that happened. And maybe this would turn out to just be a fling anyway. But deep down, she was pretty sure that wasn't the case. If it turned out to be a fling for Alec, it wouldn't ever be one for Sidda. She would pretend, for dignity's sake, but it would hurt.
Unless random guy came along or something for her…
But no. If that was going to happen, Sidda was pretty sure she would've already met random guy by now.
Tired of obsessing over thoughts way too emotionally charged, Sidda looked at Alec again. "I wonder if dinner will be good?"
"I don't know," Alec said, "But don't get the meat choice, whatever it is. It does funny things to a guy…."
Sidda gave him a huge grin. "So you do have bathroom problems when you fly."
"Haha, Sidda," he said, rolling his eyes as he grabbed her arm and pulled her close. She sighed with contentment as she rested against his shoulder. She would worry about random guy later.